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Eight19 Secures £1.3m Funding

Investment to accelerate path to profitability of organic photovoltaic business, and develop a new thin-film technology to improve the efficiency of Si photovoltaics

Eight19, the world leader in energy harvesting solutions powered by flexible organic photovoltaics (OPV), is pleased to announce it has received a further £1.3m of investment. Lucros Investment (Netherlands) joined existing investors IP Group, Clarium and Providence in the round. The new investment follows two years of continued improvement in OPV performance, advances in manufacturing readiness and an increased engagement with customers in the retail, FMCG and IoT sectors.

“We are delighted to have secured the additional funding, which will allow Eight19 to accelerate commercial engagement with customers through the delivery of complete energy autonomous solutions utilizing our flexible OPV”, stated Claudio Marinelli, General Manager and VP Business Development. ”The funding will also enable the Company to accelerate the commercialization of a recent technology breakthrough at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University that could enhance the efficiency of conventional silicon solar panels by up to one quarter.”

Nick Stokman, Investment Manager at Lucros Investment, who joins the Board of the Company, said: “Based on our experience in the renewable energy market, we believe that Eight19’s commercialisation expertise in thin film manufacturing, coupled with the ground-breaking photophysics innovation from Sir Richard Friend’s group at the Cavendish Laboratory, can deliver a very exciting and disruptive product in the field of photovoltaics renewable energy.”

Robert Trezona, Head of Cleantech at IP Group commented: “We are excited by the progress Eight19 is making with commercialisation of their OPV business. Their work with Cambridge University on thin film technology to enhance the performance of conventional silicon solar panels is highly innovative and has huge business potential”.